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Japan
Japan, also called Nippon, Nihon; formally Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, was a Pre Astro island nation in East Asia Region of Terra. The Kanji characters that made up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan was often referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun". Physical Description Japan '''is a volcanic chain of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are '''Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, that together comprise about 97% of Japan's 377,944 sq.km of land area and still holds the vast majority of its inhabitants. History Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as Terra's Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation characterized Japan's history. From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a long period of isolation in the early 17th century, which was only ended in 1853 when a United States fleet pressured Japan to open to the West. Nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection followed before the Meiji Emperor was restored as head of state in 1868 and the Empire of Japan was proclaimed, with the Emperor as a divine symbol of the nation. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victories in three wars allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. A war starting in 1937 expanded into part of Terra's World War II in 1941, ccoming to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After adopting a revised constitution in 1947, Japan maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the Diet before becoming part of United Earth in 2090. Although Japan officially renounced its right to declare war in 1947, it also maintained a modern military1 up to that year. Recent History and Today Japan actually entered World War III quite late and formed a defense coalition with Australia and New Zealand that was suprisingly effective and did indeed first and foremost defend its region. The Chinese were too involved fighting India, Russia and the US and North Korea, the core enemy, was wiped out by the Turks. The biggest effect of the war was bringing Japan almost to its knees by the lack of resources. When the Sarans landed and the Guardian revealed itself, it was a cultural shock to many. But Japan, like no other nation embraced the idea of Earth becoming a Galactic Society and despite keeping many traditions were among the first colonists leaving Earth. Many Japanese companies survived and have developed into Giga Corporations. There are many Colonies with Japanese core character. Traditions like Samurai and Ninjas resurfaced, some colonies embraced ancient Japanese cultural aspects and have maintained them throughout the centuries. Japan, Earth is compared to many other regions a vibrant and active region, exporting many traditional Japanese food items and cultural expots in form of many forms of entertainment. NOTES 1 The Japanese military forces were called the "Japan Self-Defense Force" or JSDF, JSF or SDF. This reflected a major viewpoint change for the Japanese public. All JSDF personnel were technically civilians; those in uniform were classified as special civil servants and were subordinate to the ordinary civil servants who ran the Ministry of Defense. Category:Places